"Grey Tuesday" Civil Disobedience Planned February 24th Against Copyright
Cartel

DOWNHILL BATTLE (February 18, 2004) -- A coalition of websites will join
in an online protest to offer free downloads of a critically acclaimed
album that is being censored by a lawsuit threat from EMI Records. The
action is an act of civil disobedience against a copyright regime that
routinely suppresses musical innovation. The Grey Album, which remixes
Jay-Z's Black Album and the Beatles' White Album, has been hailed as a
innovative hip-hop triumph, but EMI sent cease-and-desist letters to any
record store that stocked it. This Tuesday ("Grey Tuesday") the coalition
of sites will offer free downloads of the Grey Album, and turn their pages
grey, to take a stand against a copyright regime that serves neither
musicians nor the public interest.Any site can get information on how to join the action at
Grey Tuesday

"Grey Tuesday will be the first protest of its kind," said Downhill Battle
co-founder Holmes Wilson, "The major record labels have turned copyright
law into a weapon, but participants in this action will be ignoring EMI's
threats and insisting on the public's right to hear innovative new music."

"EMI isn't looking for compensation, they're trying to ban a work of art,"
said Downhill Battle's Rebecca Laurie. "The record industry has become a
huge drag on creativity and it's only getting worse -- it's time to take a
stand."

The Grey Album has been widely shared on filesharing networks such as
Kazaa and Soulseek, and has garnered critical acclaim in Rolling Stone
(which called it "the ultimate remix record" and "an ingenious hip-hop
record that sounds oddly ahead of its time"), the New Yorker, the Boston
Globe (which called it the "most creatively captivating" album of the
year), and other major news outlets.

"It's clear that this work devalues neither of the originals. There is no
legitimate artistic or economic reason to ban this record -- "this is just
arbitrary exertion of control," said Nicholas Reville, Downhill Battle
co-founder. "The framers of the constitution created copyright to promote
innovation and creativity. A handful of corporations have radically
perverted that purpose for their own narrow self interest, and now the
public is fighting back."

The reporters and news outlets that reviewed the Grey Album have obtained
it illegally from filesharing networks. "If music reviewers have to break
the law to hear new, innovative music, then something has gone wrong with
the law," said Laurie.

"Remixes and pastiche are a defining aesthetic of our era. How will
artists continue to work if corporations can outlaw what they do?" said
Reville. "Artists, writers, and musicians have always borrowed and built
upon each other's work -- now they have to answer to corporate legal
teams."

College and noncommercial radio stations will also be participating in
Tuesday's action by playing the Grey Album in its entirety (possibly along
with the Jay-Z and Beatles sources).

Contact:

Holmes Wilson -- Holmes Wilson

Nicholas Reville -- Nicholas Reville

Downhill Battle (a href="http://www.dowhillbattle.org">Downhill Battle>

Grey Tuesday (Grey Tuesday)

Phone: 508-963-7832 / Fax: 775-878-0379